Welcome to my menu planning and cookbook challenge for this nice and cool October. After getting inspired from a speaker at MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) a few weeks ago, I decided I need more scheduling in my life…at least in the cooking department.
First, I sprawled out my five Paleo/Primal cookbooks to see which recipe(s) I wanted from each one, but soon realized that was silly. I honed in on Make it Paleo because I am in lurve with their photos AND recipes, which usually turn out delish. My hubby did get me Sarah Fragoso‘s new Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook, but I’m not excited like I was with her first book. Don’t worry, I promise to do a week’s worth of recipes and let you know how they turn out.
After nailing down which book, I pulled out my trusty dry erase board and started jotting down a recipe for each day, including a side or two. There was no real method to my madness, but I did try to find a few recipes that had some of the same ingredients and made sure to change up the meat so I wasn’t have beef back to back. I also tried to plan it if I knew I’d be gone all day, or for mornings where we were working in the garden and could get something in the crock pot. In the end, it looked like this:
I did try to allot for leftovers so Emma and I could have them for lunch and still have enough to pack for Josh’s lunch. I have to say 95% of it turned out quite tasty and it was fun knowing what meal to expect the upcoming day! So, without further ado, here is what we had (I will post them on my recipes page).
Breakfast
French Omelet
Grain-free Granola
Egg Muffins
Veggie Scramble
Lunch/Dinner
Monday: Tomato Basil Soup
Baked Chicken Thighs
Tuesday: Taco Salad
Wednesday: Pulled Pork Barbecue (Easy Crock Pot Recipe)
Thursday: BBLT • Bison, Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato
Cajun Sweet Potato Fries
Friday: Date Night
Saturday: Pan-seared Scallops
Sunday: Family dinner with friends (on the smoker)
Treats: Pistachio Bark
Coconut Fudge
Woah! There you have it, a week’s worth of yummy, healthy, and easy recipes all at your fingertips. No more excuses of not knowing where to start and what to eat. It’s in the grocery bag baby!
Are you a menu planner? Do you know what you’re having the month in advance or do you scramble eggs at the last-minute and throw something together (like me)? My hope in posting this, is that it will keep me inspired to at least know a week at a time what’s for dinner. Who knows, maybe that will help me to keep my sanity.
Up next is Paleo Comfort Foods…stay tuned!
Posted by Casey (A Healthy Spin) on October 9, 2012 at 9:16 am
Nice job!
Posted by Crunchy Hot Mama on October 9, 2012 at 12:50 pm
Thanks
It was A LOT of cooking!
Posted by Bridgette on October 9, 2012 at 1:45 pm
Jeff and I used to set a menu for the week and base the grocery list off of it. He really likes that idea but our schedules have been off lately so it’s been impossible to do that. Anyway he made a comment about your menu board and said some of the food on there even sounded good. He’s a little bit crunchy and doesn’t even know it!!!
Posted by Crunchy Hot Mama on October 9, 2012 at 4:56 pm
Ha! I love that he’s a lil bit crunchy.
The board definitely helps me to see what’s coming up for the week and get me excited for the next new dish
Posted by Cynthia on October 9, 2012 at 4:10 pm
I plan a breakfast “meal” once or twice a week and then dinner 3-4 times a week. Which is a lot for me because I’m not much of a cook. I did make the same pulled pork bbq last week and it was delish. Egg muffins are on my menu this week. Have you tried making a batch of them and warming them up? How did they taste?
Posted by Crunchy Hot Mama on October 9, 2012 at 4:58 pm
They actually reheat quite well. I pop them in the micro for 30 seconds and send a couple with Josh to work. I like how they’re portable yet full of yummy goodness!